Two wind turbines have been superimposed on pictures of the land behind the Robert Travis Building, which is part of the Sullivan County Community Services Complex in Liberty. Luke Spencer of Sustainable Energy Developments (SED) explains the proposed wind project.

Another project that was discussed was for a different two-megawatt turbine or perhaps two turbines, depending on the desires of the developer, that would be located in another part of the town, and would not provide electricity to a specific facility, but would instead sell it into the grid. Here again, to make the project financially feasible, a large for-profit corporation would own a large majority of the project, up to 99%, and could take advantage of tax credits. One percent of the project might be owned by a group of local residents, and once the tax credits expire, the two owners could flip ownership shares.

The presentation was a bit technical, and showed that SED has measured such things as the noise impact on the few houses that are located more than 1,000 feet away from the proposed location, and the number of hours every year during which “shadow flicker” would occur on which parts of the ground nearby because of the sun shining through the turning blades.

Further, there are still many hurdles to overcome if a wind turbine is ever to be built in Liberty. For instance, the Town of Liberty has no wind ordinance.